Sun Microsystems has decided that it will reduce its workforce by 3,000 jobs, or 10 percent of all its employees, because of several delays in its acquisition by Oracle Corp. Even after Oracle completes the acquisition of Sun, though, the company, which has been struggling with declining revenues, expects even more job reductions to occur.
The acquisition of Sun by Oracle was expected to close by the summer, but the deal has hit a snag in the form of European regulators that have been unwilling to approve the merger over fears that the new colossal company would snuff out competition. Sun’s …read more

Bank of America’s suspicious acquisition of Merrill Lynch, especially considering the financial state of the latter company during the buy and the timing of the federal bailout money given to Bank of America, has raised a lot of eyebrows in the financial world and sparked an investigation. After months of hesitation, Bank of America has greed to turn over related documents to federal investigators.
So far, Bank of America officials had refused to turn over the documents containing the legal advice that Bank of America received concerning its acquisition of Merrill Lynch, citing attorney-client privilege. However, people close to the situation …read more

Dove soap maker Unilever has decided to spend $1.9 billion to acquire Sara Lee Corp.’s personal-care and European detergent unit, a move that marks Unilever’s biggest purchase in nine years. The purchase, which puts the popular Sanex shower gel into Unilever’s product repertoire, sent Sara Lee’s shares up at least 6.7 percent in New York trading.
The deal will involve Unilever paying cash for the division of Sara Lee, maker of several brands of soap that are extremely popular throughout Europe that drew in nearly $1 billion in sales in its last fiscal year. Sara Lee, which has been shedding many …read more

Videogame maker Electronic Arts has experienced a surge in the value of its stock following speculation that computer giant Microsoft is considering a takeover of the company. However, both companies have declined to make any comments on such an arrangement and analysts remain largely skeptical about how the acquisition would be practical.
To some analysts, Microsoft acquiring Electronic Arts makes no sense at all because of the fact that Microsoft is developing newer forms of videogame technology, making an acquisition of a traditional videogame company pointless. This potential roadblock has not stood in the way of trading, with EA’s shares climbing …read more

Software company Adobe Systems, which is best known for programs like Adobe Acrobat, Reader, and Photoshop, has decided to purchase online analytics firm Omniture for $1.8 billion. According to Adobe itself, the move is part of a growing attempt on the part of Adobe to make itself more competitive in the world of online commerce.
 
Adobe will pay Omniture $21.50 per share in cash, which turns about to be an offer 24 percent above Omniture’s Tuesday closing price of $17.32. The deal is expected to close by Adobe’s fiscal fourth quarter, at which point Adobe will begin to combine the services …read more

Intuit Inc. has decided to purchase Mint.com, a popular personal finance website, for $170 million in a move to increase Intuit’s capabilities as a tax and financial management service provider. The move comes at a time when personal finance computer service surges in popularity as more and more people strive to manage their money more efficiently.
 
Intuit’s business stems from its process that allows consumers to file their taxes online, as opposed to having to purchase physical software to accomplish the same thing. While the company’s revenue slowed last quarter, the traditional packaged software tax programs have also experiences smaller sales …read more

When Bloomberg LP, a popular news and financial information source, first looked at a potential purchase of Mcgraw-Hill’s BusinessWeek magazine, Bloomberg passed on the opportunity. However, BusinessWeek has reported on its website that Bloomberg may have reentered the process of bidding for ownership of Business Week for reasons yet to be determined.
 
BusinessWeek will not accept any bids after September 15, which means that Bloomberg only has a small window of time to decide whether or not it actually wants to enter a bid. The two companies will apparently meet next week so that Bloomberg can get a better idea of …read more

Shortly after Bank of America shareholders voted to approve the bank’s acquisition of Merrill Lynch, Bank of America’s general counsel, Timothy J. Mayopoulos was unceremoniously fired by the chief risk officer. The dismissal, which was given no explanation, has now come under investigation by federal investigators, led by New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.
 
In particular, the timing of the firing, which occurred on the same day as Bank of America informing its board of directors that Merrill Lynch was losing money at a surprising pace, has come under scrutiny. Mayopoulous had just discussed Merrill Lynch’s financial situation with the bank’s …read more

A battle in the global candy market seems to be in the making after Cadbury PLC’s speedy decision to turn down Kraft Foods Inc.’s $16.73 billion offer for control of the company. Kraft may soon find competition from Hershey for the acquisition of Cadbury, but Cadbury may has yet to receive an offer it will even consider.
 
Kraft decided to publicly announce its bid for Cadbury after the candy company privately rejected its bid, causing Cadbury to publicly state how Kraft’s bid “fundamentally undervalues” Cadbury. Kraft hopes to acquire Cadbury so that it could extend its candy empire throughout larger reaches …read more

Software giant Oracle’s takeover of Sun Microsystems may not go so smoothly in Europe, where the European Commission has stated that the combination of Oracle and Sun would end up eliminating the growth of Sun’s free corporate database program. The European Commission has decided to continue investigating the merger, even though the Justice Department has already approved it.
While U.S. regulators’ main concern involved Oracle’s power in the marketplace, the questions surrounding open-source software have not been as popular on this side of the Atlantic. This would not be the first merger that the U.S. and the European Commission have butt …read more